Mikel Arteta confirms £72m Arsenal duo will miss Newcastle United clash as doubts remain over defensive pair

Mikel Arteta has revealed Arsenal will be without two key players for Saturday’s visit to Newcastle United - and the Gunners boss is anxiously awaiting news over the availability of defensive duo Gabriel and Ben White.

The former Lille centre-back has become integral in the Gunners setup as they fell narrowly short in Premier League title battles with Manchester City over the last two seasons and is viewed as one of the best defenders in English football’s top tier. However, the 26-year-old will have to come through a training session on Friday to prove his fitness ahead of the trip to St James Park after he suffered a knee injury in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with title rivals Liverpool. Arteta will also hope to receive some positive news on the fitness of versatile defender Ben White played the entire 90 minutes against the Reds but has not trained in recent days. In a mixed assessment of his injury concerns, the Gunners boss also confirmed captain Martin Odegaard and summer signing Riccardo Calafiori will remain on the sidelines with respective ankle and knee injuries.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, the Gunners boss said: “We have a training session today. If he (Gabriel) can complete that, he’ll be available. He hasn’t had any training sessions yet, but if he’s able to do that today, he’ll be available to be in the squad. Riccardo and Martin are out definitely. With Ben, we don’t know yet. He hasn’t trained yet. He could not train, he could not get involved, so let’s wait and see if he’s available.”

Saturday lunchtime’s visit to St James Park will represent the first time Arteta has returned the scene of one of the most controversial goals of last season. Newcastle inflicted a narrow defeat on the Gunners thanks to an Anthony Gordon goal that was subjected to a lengthy VAR review as off-field official Andy Madley assessed a number of incidents.

After seeing the officials rule Joe Willock had kept the ball in play before crossing and waving away claims Joelinton had fouled a Gunners defender, the goal was finally given when the VAR officials proved Gordon was onside before he tapped the ball into the net at the Gallowgate End. The decision provoked a furious reaction from Arteta, who described the calls as ‘embarrassing’ and a ‘disgrace’ in a passionate post-match interview with Sky Sports.

However, the Gunners boss stressed he has now moved on from a controversial night on Tyneside as he prepares to return to St James almost 12 months on.

He said: “It’s part of the past and part of the situation that happened. You learn from it, you take a lot of positives as well and we've moved on. My intention was not that the comments worked. I have to say what I feel on the day. They’re certainly trying their best.”